Good Morning - 7.19am - 11/03/10
Social networks used for staff rageIt's official! Here at Big fish we can cheerfully announce that the days when the customer was always right have drawn to an end.At least according to some unhappy staff, past and present, who have eagerly plunged into the deep end of social networking to publicly vent their spleens and share their daily annoyances. DSGi - the parent company for PC World and Currys in the UK - has been monitoring some frank, and often abusive opinions within the Facebook group DSGi employees, claim some of its users. Of the many topics discussed about life working for the company, the customer is consistently the greatest bugbear during staffs' working day with many contributors happy to reveal their names and branch locations. But as social networking becomes more vital as a business and brand awareness tool, it is also rapidly becoming a platform which can do quantifiable damage to a brand's image. The issue was highlighted in a recent copy of revolution magazine that we picked up at Big fish. The group was exposed by the consumer group Bitterwallet whose editor, Paul Smith told revolutionmagazine: "What makes this even more astonishing is that according to group members, senior management are apparently aware of the Facebook group's existence and read through the comments on a regular basis." Some might argue that free speech is being stifled but, despite the usual disclaimers, the level of abuse used by some disgruntled members is pretty impressive. Makes for some fun lunch time reading! Revealing their official stance, DSGi provided a statement to us: "We have clear guidelines for staff and will investigate any alleged abuse of customers. Delivering excellent customer service is at the forefront of everything we do, and so we are very disappointed that a small number of our colleagues have made these comments on a social-networking website. We will take the necessary action with any staff found to be acting inappropriately." So Big fish’s advice is, if you're not already armed with appropriate best practice guidelines and parameters for social network use / abuse among staff members, you may want to give it some attention in the not too distant future. Just remember that there is little anyone can do to combat an angry ex-employee. What’s the social media usage stance at your company? Encouraged, frowned upon? All responses to shib.hussain@bigfishrecruitment.com Best answer wins a prize!
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